Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.164002720

Cassatt. Composed by Dan Welcher. Spiral and Saddle. Premiere: Cassatt Quartet, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Contemporary. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed 2007. WRT11142. 52+16+16+16+16 pages. Duration 24 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00272. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.164002720).

UPC: 680160573042. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

By Various. Easy Piano Songbook (Easy arrangements for piano and voice). Softcover. Size 9x12 inches. 280 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

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Guitar Chord Songbook. Book only. Size 6x9 inches. 258 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

49 Timeless Love Classics (Piano/Vocal/Guitar). Composed by various composers and arrangers. This edition: Piano/Vocal/Guitar. Book; P/V/C Mixed Folio; Piano/Vocal/Chords. Best Songs. Love; Pop; Pop/Rock; Standard. 248 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.44681).

Budget Books. Piano/Vocal/Chords Songbook (Arrangements for piano and voice with guitar chords). Size 8.37x10.87 inches. 352 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

Ukulele

SKU: AP.45243

50 Classics. Composed by Various Artists and composers. This edition: Easy Hits Ukulele. Series; Ukulele Mixed Folio. Alfred's Easy. Love; Pop; Standard. Book. 104 pages. Alfred Music #00-45243. Published by Alfred Music (AP.45243).

ISBN 9781470633332. UPC: 038081519463. English.

For beginning musicians, Alfred's Easy series is the fast track to developing a repertoire of well-known and fun-to-play songs, while more experienced players will find an excellent resource of favorite songs. The Easy Hits Ukulele format provides melody, chords, and lyrics for easy strum and sing performance---plus suggested strum patterns and TAB for any integral hook parts. This Love and Romance edition features songs from such artists as Celine Dion, Chicago, Bruno Mars, Andy Williams, Sam Cooke, Phil Collins, and many more! Titles: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) (Phil Collins) * Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) (from Arthur) (Christopher Cross) * At Last (Etta James) * Because You Loved Me (Theme from Up Close and Personal) (Celine Dion) * Breathe (Faith Hill) * Can You Read My Mind? (Love Theme from Superman) (Maureen McGovern) * Colour My World (Chicago) * Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) (Barbra Streisand feat. Kris Kristofferson) * Falling Slowly (from Once) (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) * Feelings (Dime?) (Morris Albert) * For Your Eyes Only (from For Your Eyes Only) (Sheena Easton) * Glory of Love (Theme from The Karate Kid Part II) (Peter Cetera) * The Greatest Love of All (Whitney Houston) * Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (Mel Carter) * How Do I Live (LeAnn Rimes) * How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (from Best Friends) (Patti Austin and James Ingram) * (Everything I Do) I Do It for You (Bryan Adams) * I Swear (John Michael Montgomery) * Theme from Ice Castles (Through the Eyes of Love) (Melissa Manchester) * If You Leave Me Now (Chicago) * I'll Stand by You (The Pretenders) * I'm Not In Love (10cc) * It Might Be You (Theme from Tootsie) (Stephen Bishop) * Just the Way You Are (Amazing) (Bruno Mars) * Just You 'n' Me (Chicago) * Laura (Standard) * Look What You've Done to Me (Boz Scaggs) * Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (Standard) * A Love Song (Anne Murray).

(Melody, Lyrics and Simplified Chords in the Key of C). By Various. For C Instruments. Easy Fake Book. Softcover. 256 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

20 of the Best Songs. Arranged by Dan Coates. This edition: Easy Piano. Book; Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental; Sing-Along. A Decade of Pop Hits. Pop. 75 pages. Published by Alfred Music

Note-for-Note Keyboard Transcriptions. Note For Note Keyboard transcr. Size 9x12 inches. 320 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

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SKU: HL.14060485

Fake Books. General Merchandise. Duration 240 seconds. Music Sales #AM1013177. Published by Music Sales (HL.14060485).

UPC: 196288099512. 4.75x7.5x0.872 inches.

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Performed by Steely Dan, compiled by David Pearl. For piano. Format: instructional book (keyboard excerpts only). With standard notation, chord names, instructional text, performance notes and introductory text. Soft rock and pop rock. 40 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Cherry Lane Music.

Choral SATB choir, piano

SKU: PR.342402070

Composed by Steven Stucky. -. Ars Nova Chamber Singers, Boulder CO. Performance Score. With Standard notation. Composed 7-Feb. 8 pages. Duration 3 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #342-40207. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.342402070).

ISBN 9781491111253. UPC: 680160643226. Octavo inches. Text: Archibald R. Ammons. Archibald Ammons. Text by A.R. Ammons.

To benefit Chorus America, Stucky allowed himself to be auctioned off as a prize - the high bidder would receive a new work from the composer. After a few years and not really hearing anything, Stucky suddenly found himself up against a deadline. He reached back to a favorite poem by A.R. Ammons, Eyesight, which, he says, Won't let...his reader rest till the very last word...one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless..
This piece has an odd history. A few years ago, I agreed to be one of the“prizes” in an auction to benefit Chorus America: the highest bidder wouldget a new piece from me, while their money went to the organization. Thewinning bid came from a collection of several professional choruses anddirectors. But I was always a little vague about the details, and, hearingnothing more about it for a few years, forgot the whole thing.One day I received a message from Thomas Edward Morgan, directorof the Ars Nova Chamber Singers in Boulder: they had scheduled thepremiere of my new piece for a few weeks later, and could they have themusic, please? I needed a text, quickly, and (as usual) I was in a Los Angeleshotel room, not at home with my books. So I turned to the internet andsoon tracked down my favorite poet, A.R. Ammons (1926-2001).Once I stumbled on “Eyesight,” I remembered having loved the poemyears before. Archie must have loved it, too, because he included it bothin his Collected Poems 1951-1971 and in the later Selected Poems. It haseverything you want in an Archie Ammons poem: what Edward Hirschcalled his “offbeat, sideways, unpredictable radiance,” his “homespunglory.â� � It has one of his trademark conversations with a mountain (perhapsfrom his native North Carolina), it has the fluid motion from one line tothe next (enjambment, if you want to get technical) that won’t let him orhis reader rest till the very last word of the very last line, and it has in thatlast line one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless: “some thingsthat go are gone.”I miss Archie, but he’s not gone. I’m grateful for the wonderful poems heleft us, and I’m grateful that he was always generous and kind when I hadthe chutzpah to add my music to his.